This is the eighth Scancor workshop for Nordic and European doctoral students. The audience for this workshop is PhD students with an interest in recent research in institutional theory and organizational studies more generally. Previous workshops have been held at Stanford University, Copenhagen Business School, Helsinki School of Economics and IESEBarcelona. Next year’s workshop (2011) will take place at the University of Mannheim.

The goal of the workshop is to enable PhD students to pursue their research more effectively, using novel research methods to examine theoretically important questions. In recent decades, institutional theory has expanded outside its base in the United States to many settings around the world. This perspective has been valuable in explaining, among other things, the adoption of organizational structures, the incorporation of social movement ideas and goals inside organizations, and the global spread of management practice. The course provides students with a thorough grounding in the canonical works of institutional theory, an overview of recent lines of research, and an introduction to the diverse methodological tools used by scholars pursuing these ideas.

Institutional theory has been a dominant approach in organization theory for the past three decades, and in recent years has gained influence in economics, management science, political science, and sociology. Nonetheless, this approach is plagued by several key theoretical and methodological challenges. This workshop brings together scholars from diverse disciplines who are developing novel solutions to these challenges, most notably issues of change and agency. The faculty will present current research, review recent papers, and discuss new methodological tools that not only respond to institutional analysis’ current limitations but expand its explanatory scope. We pay special attention to issues of institutional origins, persistence, and transformation. We also emphasize methods of comparative, archival, and network analysis. Finally, we tackle fundamental issues involving globalization, competing institutional logics, contestation, and dynamics.

The workshop is organized around three related features: (1) a research seminar where the faculty present their current research; (2) a session devoted to discussing both classic and contemporary theoretical developments within institutional theory; and (3) a session focusing on the research methods that advance institutional research. Students will take away new insights and tools, and a deeper understanding of how to match conceptual questions with research methods. The workshop will prepare PhD students to carry out their own individual research using the tools of institutional theory.

For more information see attached file.